TEMPE, Ariz.  Sun Devil Stadium was awash in Ohio State red an hour before Friday's Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. At game's end, the longest and perhaps most dramatic in national championship game history, it was awash in Miami red.

The underdog Buckeyes turned the Big Play Hurricanes into Big Mistake Miami in a down-to-the-last-play, double-overtime 31-24 bloodletting that produced a major upset, finished an unprecedented 14-0 season and gave Ohio State its first national title since Woody Hayes coached the Buckeyes in 1968.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel holds up the championship trophy after his team defeated the Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

By Adrees Latif, Reuters

"We've always had the best damn band in the land," said coach Jim Tressel, who won four national titles in Division I-AA. "Now we've got the best damn team in the land."

Ohio State's vaunted defense put the Hurricanes, who had averaged 42 points and 475 yards a game, on their heels in the first half, building a 17-7 lead with two of the five turnovers it forced in the game. Then, after Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel came to the rescue of a sputtering offense, the defense sealed the victory in the second overtime, stopping Miami four times after it reached the Ohio State two.

The final dagger came when linebacker Cie Grant pressured Miami quarterback Ken Dorsey into a wild pass on fourth-and-one that was knocked down by Matt Wilhelm. That ended a thriller that saw Miami claw back to send the game into overtime on Todd Sievers' 40-yard field goal with 0:00 showing in regulation.

The Hurricanes twice appeared on their way to a second consecutive national title and 35th straight victory. They led 24-17 in the first overtime, but on fourth and 14, Krenzel kept the Buckeyes alive with a 17-yard strike to Michael Jenkins. Four plays later, facing a score-or-lose situation, Krenzel threw incomplete. Miami players stormed the field, but a pass interference call against Glenn Sharpe gave Ohio State life.

They turned it into a magical triumph — and stunning loss for Miami.

"It's very painful," said Larry Coker, who had won his first 24 games as Miami coach after succeeding Butch Davis. "You play a lot of these plays a long time."

He'll likely replay the uncharacteristic turnovers over and over that were suffered against an Ohio State team that won seven times this season by seven or fewer points.

The Buckeyes undermined one of the fastest and most explosive offenses in college football. "They didn't stop us," said Miami tight end Kellen Winslow. "We did ourselves."

Another casualty: Miami's other Heisman finalist, tailback Willis McGahee. He totaled just 67 yards rushing, 73 under his average, and left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury. Though team officials did not know the severity of the injury, several teammates said McGahee tore knee ligaments.

"It didn't surprise us that much," Coker said of a Buckeyes defense that held Miami to 65 yards rushing. "But they're very good at what they did. It sort of caused us problems. They have a great defensive football team."

Miami struck first but an interception by Mike Doss and a fumble recovery by Kenny Peterson led to two Ohio State touchdowns and a 14-7 halftime lead.

Even star freshman running back Maurice Clarett, who scored two TDs and but totaled just 47 yards rushing, got into the defensive mode. In the third quarter, after Miami's Sean Taylor intercepted a Krenzel pass, Clarett stripped the ball from him, setting up a 44-yard field goal by Mike Nugent for a 17-7 lead.

Miami roared back, however, and tied the game on Sievers' nail-biting field goal, set up by Roscoe Parrish's 50-yard return of a punt to the Ohio State 26.

That set the stage for the first overtime in Bowl Championship Series history. It didn't disappoint.

Krenzel's fourth-down pass that kept Ohio State's first OT drive alive was only his seventh completion of the game. But he starred as the Buckeyes main running threat, piling up a season-high 81 yards on 19 carries.

"Craig Krenzel stepped up," said Tressel. "He did for us what we needed done. He led the team and fought like crazy and made the plays when he had to. He was tough."

For a brief moment, however, he thought he was beaten. He was knocked to the ground on the pass interference call and didn't see the flag, only Miami's bench emptying.

"It was a feeling of dejection, thinking the game was over," he said. "I think it was the right call. Fortunately, we capitalized on it."

"The ball was there and he got interfered with," said Tressel. "That's how you win championships. You make plays."

After Ohio State defense secured the win, the huge Buckeye following went crazy in Sun Devil Stadium. "Our crowd was electric," said Tressel. "They energized our kids. That's what a national champinship game should look like. .. double overtime. Two great hevayweights slugging it out."